~ a pilgrimage of the heart

Gratitude, Guest Posts, and an Interview

First, a heartfelt thank you to all our new followers of the past several months. We are honoured and very appreciative. Please comment if you feel like it so that we can get to know you a little. Seriously!

Second, we’ve been Discovered! A huge thank you to Michelle W., one of the awesome WordPress editors, for choosing to feature our blog in WP’s Discover.

Third, I’m delighted to say we’ve been invited to write a couple of guest posts.

Thank you Simone for inviting us to write another guest post, this one about Jordan for Retirement and Good Living. While Retirement and Good Living is primarily a resource for US retirees, it also contains a wealth of travel information.

Finally, Cheri Lucas Rowlands, another of the fabulous WordPress editors, chose to include us in a Discover article about nomadic couples who blog about their journey. Thank you Cheri, we are honoured to be included.

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69 thoughts on “Gratitude, Guest Posts, and an Interview”

Heartiest congratulations Alison and Don. So well deserved. Now I can’t imagine life without your blogs. You’re providing me with all these fabulous travel experiences that I’ll never have. As always, thank you so very much.

Hi Alison and Don–I found your blog through Discover and I’ve been enjoying it greatly! Having just returned to America and settled down after nine semi-nomadic years, I’m eager for vicarious adventures. Reading about your travels gives me hope that I’ll be able to pick up my voyaging again some day (I can only hope my eventual retirement will be half as exciting as yours).

Thanks you so much. I hope you enjoy adventuring with us, and that eventually you’ll be having your own adventures again one day, though the new-born adventure sounds pretty awesome. And your book project is totally impressive!
Alison

Congratulations! It is well deserved, your blog and all your posts are awesome. You guys are awesome. I’m looking forward to catching up with recent posts as I have been on holidays with family interstate and generally catching up with life. Well done.

WOW! Congrats for all the acknowledgement. You put in A LOT of time, and it’s nice to see that rewarded with such high honor. All your photo is missing is a whiteness of swans and it would look a whole lot like a photo in my last post…you know what they say about great minds!

Thanks BF. It’s true I do put in a lot of time. And I’ve really worked at being a better writer, and a better photographer, over the years. Some of my very first posts are a bit cringeworthy – uber perky! – but I leave them there to remind me of progress. I wanted to have more gravitas. I’ve been inspired by the writing on many different blogs. Your writing has inspired me.
I just had another look at your whiteness of swans – beautiful. Unfortunately no swans in Mexcio, but plenty of pelicans. If I’d caught the moment I could have a brownness of pelicans 🙂
Alison

Uber perky is not really a bad thing is it? Plus, that was probably when you still had hair, maybe. Yeah, I would leave them on your blog, and later, when the book gets published, you can edit them and make them uber better. Well, I’m thrilled you’ve been inspired by my writing…but I’m wondering just what aspect you noticed? Your photos inspire me, but without LR, I can do nothing. One thing I learned from you was not to over-saturate photos. I still do on some (like the whiteness of swans). So thanks for that, too.

Oh yes, I still had hair, but even after hair I continued to gradually change the tone. What I noticed about your writing was the easy flow, the rambling from one subject to another but in a way that ultimately made sense, the conversational feel, the delightful unexpected detailed information e.g. cloacas! Who knew!
I also occasionally oversaturate photos – deliberately – there’s a fine example of that about half way down this post: https://alisonanddon.com/2016/02/27/cruising-turkey-fethiye-and-antalya/ Without the over saturation it was nothing.
Alison

Congratulations for all the continued accolades and acknowledgments of your outstanding heartfelt writing about your journeys through life and on the road as well as your gorgeous photos! Well deserved praise that must have you breaking into a happy dance! 😀 Anita

Congratulations and I concur with others here. Well deserved acknowledgements for your outstanding writing, photography and the care, energy and time you put into building relationships with your readers. I have so enjoyed getting to know you and appreciate your willingness to share a more personal side of yourselves and not just the ‘facts’. It draws me in to your posts as if I am coming to visit fiends.

Thanks Sue. I love my readers! Although blogging is primarily a creative process for me, both the writing and photography, and I think I would do it anyway, it is readers who keep a blog alive. Without you all it’s kind of like hollering at the wind. So thank you!
We made a decision from the beginning that the blog would be as much about the inner journey as the outer because that is an endlessly necessary exploration, and sharing it keeps us, and our connection with our readers, real.
We’re so close geographically – any chance you’ll be visiting Van this summer?
Alison

I have been reading and loving your blog for few years now and find it inspiring and so honest. I also love that you always reply to comments something that must take you ages. Your commitment to your readers is commendable. Congratulations to the super well deserved recognition.

Thank you so much Gilda. I’m so glad you like the blog and that you find it inspiring. We never set out to be inspiring, but if that’s one of the results of our journey it’s a good thing. It’s wonderful, and much appreciated, having your comments over the years. And yes, it takes time to respond, but I think it’s the least I can do. Readers, and especially those who comment, keep the blog alive. Plus I get to meet some really cool people!
Alison

Thank you for your post. It has inspired my husband and I (age 70 and 61) to sell our home in Arizona and start a round the world trip. We start our adventure next week with our first stop in Scotland before visiting family in London. We will keep reading your post, keeps us inspired.

How exciting! I’m glad we inspired you. It will be amazing. I’ve never been to Scotland – one day we’ll get there. I love London and would like to return. Again – one day. You will find that the more you travel the longer the bucket list gets. We never seem to be able to empty it.
Alison

Thanks so much Kenny. I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying the blog. We have not given up on visiting you and Anna. We’re planning a trip to Taiwan, HK, and China. Unfortunately not for a couple of years yet, but we’ll get there.
Alison

Thank you so much Madhu. It was all a wonderful surprise – first the Discover recognition, and then being interviewed for an article for Discover.
Yes! Here’s to more wonderful and inspiring adventures!
Alison